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    Raising Chickens: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners
    Raising Chickens: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners
    Raising Chickens: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners
    Ebook163 pages1 hour

    Raising Chickens: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

    By Jason Howard

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    About this ebook

    Uncover the best homesteading methods to help you raise healthy chickens and enjoy fresh eggs with this practical guide to modern chicken-rearing methods


    Do you want to get started in raising your chickens naturally and providing fresh, organic poultry products for yourself and your family, but don't know where to begin? If yes, then this guide might just be what you need.


    Raising chickens can be difficult, especially if you've never had experience doing it before. In this guide, Jason Howard hands you the blueprint you will need to raise healthy chickens with tips ranging from coop-building and selecting the best chicken breed to making your own custom chicken feed.


    Here's a preview of what you're going to learn in Raising Chickens:


    •    3 essential steps you must take before you begin raising chickens
    •    7 surefire tips to help you protect your chickens from predators
    •    6 important questions to ask yourself before choosing to buy a coop or build one yourself
    •    20 critical features your chicken coop must have if you want to raise healthy, robust chickens
    •    The 5-step technique to help you choose the best chicken breed for your budget and needs
    •    9 easy and effective ways to check the health of the chicken before purchasing it
    •    15 necessary tools you need to help you take care of your chickens
    •    All the tasks you need to carry out to keep your chicken healthy and in top shape including daily, weekly, monthly and semi-yearly tasks
    •    3 things you can add to a chicken's diet to help you get that bright orange yolk in your eggs
    •    How to make your own chicken feed without breaking a sweat
    •    ...and tons more!


    Filled with deep insights into this wildly popular and commercially useful avian species, this guide will show you everything you need to know to raise healthy chickens from the comfort of your own backyard!



     

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNovelty Publishing LLC
    Release dateFeb 6, 2021
    ISBN9781393395164

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      Book preview

      Raising Chickens - Jason Howard

      Introduction

      If you’re curious about what it takes to raise chickens in your backyard, you’re not alone, and you’ve come to the right place!

      According to the US Department of Agriculture, in 2014, one percent of people living in urban areas were raising chickens! That’s 13 million people! And four percent more planned to add chickens to their life within the next five years.

      People raise chickens for lots of reasons. Chickens are known to be friendly, curious and social, so they make good pets. And, there’s the delicious, fresh eggs they produce; you can eat them and also sell them. Some people compost chicken manure to use on their gardens. And, chickens provide natural pest control because they eat bugs. And some, when their hens stop laying, use their chickens for food. For all of these reasons, many find raising chickens really rewarding

      So, you just buy a coop and some feed, buy some chickens and wait for the eggs, right?

      Well, it’s not that easy. But there’s no need to worry – you’ll get the inside scoop on chicken coops (including advice about building your own), types of chickens, where to buy them, daily, monthly and semi-yearly tasks, how to feed them, the ins-and-outs of incubation, how to gather and clean eggs, and how to keep your chickens happy and healthy. There’s even some chicken stories from experienced owners.

      Are chickens right for you? There’s only one way to find out...

      Grab your favorite beverage and a comfy chair, and let’s learn all about raising chickens!

      Chapter One:  Choosing The Right Chicken Coop

      Why a chicken coop? Your chickens will need a place to live, and some cities even require you to have a chicken coop. Even if you eventually want to go free range, you need something to protect your chickens and create a safe place for them at night. If you plan to raise chicks, the hens will need somewhere to sit on them. And, it’s much easier to collect eggs. You can buy a simple or fancy coop or build your own. Some cities even have chicken coop building contests! Choosing the right coop and deciding whether to build or buy requires careful thought, though

      Chickens should be let out of the coop during the day, and locked in at night. As with almost everything, people have their own ideas, so there’s a bit of controversy about chicken coops. There’s the fresh air school of chicken raising, which believes that chickens are harmed by confinement, bad air quality and the dark. This school of thought believes that the birds need an open-sided coop that makes conditions more like the outdoors. Others believe that chickens are more likely to get ill in the outdoors, and so they need an environmentally-controlled coop.

      So, you’ll see two basic designs: Houses with wide openings and nothing but chicken wire between the flock and the weather, and closed coops with windows, doors and hatches that can be closed. It doesn’t matter which design you pick. Experts agree that ventilation is really important; you don’t want heat stress or stroke, or for toxic fumes to build; all of these things can harm your flock.

      Essential Considerations

      Once you’ve decided you really want to raise chickens, your first step is to contact your local government to find out if backyard chickens are allowed and the rules and regulations. You wouldn’t want to arrive home over the weekend with a beautiful new coop only to find that you have to take it back on Monday. And some governments require you purchase a permit.

      Local laws may say that a coop has to be a certain distance from a house or other structures, such as schools, churches, etc.. Or, there’s a limit on the number of chickens, or a prohibition on roosters. Unless you live on acreage, you’re probably not allowed to have a rooster due to noise considerations. Check with your city zoning and code offices. And, if you rent, check with your landlord. If you have an HOA, check those rules as well. It’s also probably a good idea to let your neighbors know what you’re planning, especially if you’re allowed to, and plan on, having a rooster.

      Step two is to figure out how many chickens you want, and this, of course, will determine the size of the coop. The rule-of-thumb per the Old Farmer’s Almanac, is to have two square feet of floor space per bird. You don’t want to crowd the birds; not only will they be unhappy, but it’s easier for disease to spread. And don’t forget that they’ll need some outdoor space, referred to as a chicken run. Similar to a kennel for dogs, it’s an enclosed open-air space where they’ll spend most of their day and where you’ll feed your chickens.

      What about bird breeds? Step three is choosing the chickens! The Old Farmer’s Almanac cautions that some chickens have special needs, so for the beginning owner, your best bet is to choose varieties that thrive in all climates. After you have some experience under your belt, you can explore breeds like the Phoenix and Minorcas–they love the heat, or Brahmas and Chanteclers, which like it cool. Chapter Three will give you all the information you need to pick out the perfect chickens, but back to the subject of coops...

      Predators. That word strikes fear into the heart of any backyard chicken farmer. Lots of animals, including domestic dogs and cats, love to chase, kill and eat chickens. To keep your chickens safe and happy, The Happy Chicken Coop and Grit websites offer the following tips:

      ●  Do you know your local predators? Do you have raccoons, foxes, coyotes or skunks? What about snakes and large birds of prey? Are there a lot of feral cats or off-leash dogs? Knowing the predators is important for their control.

      ●  You may want to create an underground barrier. Bury hardware mesh at least two feet deep, although four feet is better. Don’t use chicken wire–that’s to keep chickens in, but doesn’t work well to keep predators from digging. You want to keep animals from digging their way under your coop.

      ●  Use fine-gauge chicken wire, or use two layers at angles to each other to keep predators from reaching into the coop. Use this technique for your run as well.

      ●  If you live somewhere with a lot of hawks and owls, the chicken wire should keep them from grabbing a chick or even a full-grown hen. This will keep birds of prey out, but will allow light and air for your chickens.

      ●  Cut down any large plants or vegetation that grows within 50-to-75 feet of your coop; this will give predators one less place to hide.

      ●  Check your coop regularly for access holes. Wily predators can slither in. And don’t pass over small openings–a weasel can get in through a half-inch hole. Weasels seem to kill for fun and you can lose all of your chickens in a single night.

      ●  Make sure to lock your coop at night, and make sure your lock can’t be opened by a critter like a raccoon with their little hands–they are quite smart! The Happy Chicken Coop recommends one that requires opposable thumbs. Also, use a padlock to keep out people. Sadly, human chicken thieves can do as much damage as any wild animal.

      ●  Keep things clean. Food scraps will attract rats, which will eat chicks and eggs.

      ●  Use lights that have a motion sensor. Many predators will be scared away by bright lights.

      ●  Train your flock to return to the coop at night, and be sure to lock it. If chicks are raised in the coop, the hens will return to the coop to roost and lay eggs at night.

      ●  Raise the coop about a foot or so off the ground so rats, skunks and snakes won’t decide to live under the coop.

      ●  Take swift action if you discover predator infiltration. If you don’t stop things immediately, you’ll just lose more chickens.

      Weasels seem to kill for fun and you can

      lose all of your chickens in a single night.

      -thehappychickencoop.com

      Now, let’s talk about the budget for your chicken coop. Once you’ve decided how many chickens you have appropriate space for, decide how much you can spend. Keep in mind that buying the coop is just the start. You’ll need waterers, and a feed trough big enough so all of your birds can feed at the same time. You’ll also need enough pine wood shavings or straw for a six-inch floor layer, along with a few handfuls in each nest box. This will all be explored more in the following section on purchasing or building your coop.

      ––––––––

      What about your climate? Heating chicken coops is a complicated

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